PayPal Charges Effective 10% on Certain Transactions?

PayPal, like many merchant accounts, have internal schedule sheets of obfuscated rates that would be undecipherable by even most bankers—in fact, I have met several whom was baffled when I showed them the full schedule sheet of rates that the credit card processing industry went by in 2010. PayPal advertises the processing rate ranges from 1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 USD—the hidden part of their fee schedule sheet is what determines which percentage within that range your transaction falls under. In the small print, they also indicate they charge additional for currency conversions and cross border transactions, which of course can add up if you do business in other countries with a large volume of small ticket items. Long story short, looking at the numbers effectively from a percentage standpoint, I noticed a 10% fee on a $5 incoming payment.